Islamic Coin Collection

Top Six Coins of the Islamic World: The Birth of Arab Identity as Illustrated Through Coinage

The six most important Islamic gold coins in the world are currently held in the Qatar Museums collection and will be exhibited together for the first time in history at The New York Times Art for Tomorrow Conference this March 11 at the Museum of Islamic Art. These six Islamic coins in the “Masterpieces of Islamic Coinage in Doha” exhibition tell a story of the rise of Arab identity and the formation of the Islamic world.

These coins are the earliest witnesses of Islam. They were struck as early as the century of the Prophet and they detail some of the first dated illustrations of the suras of the Holy Quran in history. Starting from imitations of Byzantine coins where the Christian symbols were deliberately taken away, the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, with his remarkable political spirit, ended up creating the first purely Islamic coin in 77 A.H. (after the Hirja, 696 A.D./C.E.). This marked the birth of the dinar which is still the currency used in many countries throughout the region today. During this creation process, other trial strikes resulted, namely the celebrated Standing Caliph gold coin, the world’s most important Islamic coin and the highlight of this show.

Founder of Numismatica Genevensis; Dr. Alain Baron, who holds a Ph.D. in numismatics from the University of Vienna, Austria, is proud to bring this beautiful exhibition to life in Doha. Dr. Baron is quoted as saying that, “this is exhibition is the first step in the process of generating the awareness and publicity that this magnificent collection deserves.”

The New York Times Art for Tomorrow Conference 2017, will explore the theme “Boundaries, Identity & the Public Realm”, and is organized in association with Qatar Museums.